This is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/269,153, entitled “RAILCAR COVER”, filed Nov. 12, 2008, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,051,779 which is a non-provisional application based upon U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/038,474, entitled “RAILCAR COVER”, filed Mar. 21, 2008, both of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cover system for a railcar, and, more particularly, to an opening and closing system for railcar covers.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bulk carrying railcars often have openings along the top that are opened for the loading of material and closed for transportation, some bulk railroad cars are utilized without any cover. It is desirous to protect the materials carried in the interior of the railroad car from damage, which may be caused by weather or other environmental sources of damage which may include particulate or biologic material contained in the area. It is also desirous to prevent the bulk material from being dissipated by transportation due to the air billowing over the bulk material while it is in transit. It is desirable to have a railcar open on top so as to provide an easy way of loading cargo from a delivering device, such as a hopper, that may be suspended over the top of the railroad car. It is known to have railroad car hatches that are hinged and which are opened by releasing the latches on one side and pivoting the covers to the other side thereby exposing a portion of the top of the railroad car so that material may be loaded therein. It is known to have sliding cover doors that employ rolling bearings located at each end of the railcar. This type of device requires a system that can coordinate the rolling, which can lead to mechanism failure such as the covers becoming pinched preventing their smooth operation. This system also requires personnel to operate the mechanism.
What is needed in the art is a railcar cover that can easily and repeatably slide open to expose the top of the railroad car and closed to cover the material therein.